Earned Value Management Definitions
Baseline: The “Planned Value” of the duration, start, finish and resource assignment values (if any) for a project. The Baseline is usually formally controlled in a project and does not change unless a formal change control review has been conducted and the change to the baseline has been approved. Terms and acronym used to describe the baseline include: Baseline, Budget, Planned Value (or PV), Budget Cost of Work Scheduled (or BCWS) and Budget at Complete (BAC).
Performance: The amount of progress taken on a task. Progress can be shown as a percent of the total task duration (% Complete), the percent of the total work or cost (Work % Complete) or as a percent of the Baselined duration, work or cost (% of Baseline Earned or “Earned Value”). Terms and acronym used to describe Performance include: Earned Value, Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (EV, BCWP – when taken as a percent of the Baseline), % Complete, Work % Complete, and Physical % Complete.
Actual Values: The actual number of days, hours or cost taken to perform a task or a portion of a task. With the exception of Actual Days to perform a task, Actual Values are often captured at a “rolled-up” level meaning that its value is not recorded on a task by task level. Rolled-up values are often captured for a collection of tasks having something in common such as their performing organization or position in the Work Breakdown Structure of a project. Terms and acronym used to describe Actual Values include: Actual Cost (AC), Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) or Actual Value (AV).
Current Schedule: The current value of the duration, start, finish and resource assignment values (if any) for a project. The Current Schedule is usually not formally controlled and reflects actual performance to date plus current projections for future tasks and associated resource needs. The Current Schedule changes at the end of each reporting cycle and is used to yield the estimate to complete the project and its key program events. Terms and acronym used to describe the Current Schedule include: Estimate to Complete (ETC), current plan or current schedule.
Variances: The difference between the current schedule and the baseline is known as the Cumulative Variance. The difference between the current schedule and the schedule at the end of the prior reporting period is known as the Current Period Variance. Terms and acronym used to describe Variances include: Variance at Complete (VAC), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Variance (CV) and Variance Analysis Reports (VAR).
Estimate at Complete: Equal to Remaining value of duration, work and cost, plus the actual values of the same to date. EAC is the acronym commonly used for Estimate at Complete.
